Alex did quite a few extra chores today to earn extra electronics time. One of them was agreeing to cook tonight’s dessert.
Alex
Cookies. Cookies. Cookies.
Alex was so proud. He got a new server up and running and was so excited to play with some of his BVT friends.
Alex has decided to modify a computer case. He has asked for all kinds of supplies to do this for his birthday. Today this means he is working to learn the ins and outs of our 3D printer. That also meant we were all hanging out in the basement. Ben used that time to race the cars he built with his dad and make a new video.
Wade is experimenting with other possible food options for his Sunday School class using easy to store and easy to cook methods. Wade’s current appliance of choice is the toaster oven. Tonight he tested out s’mores on the kiddos. They were all big fans.
S’mores tonight!
Leftover night means everybody fixes their own from something in the fridge. Alex made himself a fajita so he also had to clean the skillet.
Wade and I were talking tonight so Alex offered to read Kaitlyn a book at bedtime. I’m not sure she approved of how he was doing it, but the giggles we heard downstairs were cute to hear.
Sunday lineup.
Saturday morning chores.
The thug look for unloading the dishwasher.
Morning waffles.
Today everyone wanted to bake. Most of the time the big boys don’t eat breakfast and the littles have a bagel or toast with their fruit. Today everyone wanted something a little fancier.
We celebrated Wade’s birthday today. We had his requested dinner of biscuits and gravy and then angel food cake (which Kaitlyn helped me make). The kids love breakfast for dinner (of any kind) and the littles enjoyed helping Wade open his presents.
Happy Birthday Wade!
Rough day for the teenager, but then he thinks they are all rough.
I have no doubt these guys were up most of the night, but when I checked on them this morning, they were all curled up on the couch sleeping away. (10 AM)
Today we had all kinds of extra kids in the house! Kaitlyn had a friend over. Ben had a friend over. Then Alex had two friends over to spend the night.
We made cookies. Played games. Built forts. Danced. Jumped on the trampoline. Cleaned up. And then Alex’s friends arrived right after we finished dinner. I got the little kids in bed and then took Alex and his friends out to load up on snacks before they stayed up all night playing games.
After the littles’ playdate but before dinner, I laid down on the couch to take a quick nap. When I woke up, I had sleeping kids beside me and Wade was watching TV. He later sent me this video and it cracked me up.
Sunday lineup.
Kaitlyn is at a sleepover tonight so the boys all had a gaming night.
Teenager.
Wade asked for late night cookies and Alex was happy to provide.
Ben told me he had a new game he wanted the family to play. We put him off a day or two, but he was very insistent. We tried to sell him on just Wade and I playing, but he really wanted the entire family to play. We finally convinced Alex and Teague to show some interest and excitement and we all set down to play “Left, Right, Oink.”
Ben had found my bag of random die. There was a die with “Left”, “Right”, and a “pig face” on the various sides. With Ben’s game, you roll and then either hop to the left, right, or say “oink.” When we asked if there was a winner, he just grinned. We finally agreed that the first person to reach four “oinks” would be declared winner. (Spoiler – Wade wins)
Family Game Night.
(Left, Right, Oink – Game created by Ben)
Alex was kind enough to cook dinner tonight on our crazy night. The dinner of choice was waffles, which everyone loved.
We had a two hour delay this morning due to the snow yesterday. I don’t even have all four kids together in the kitchen on weekend mornings. For it to happen today was definitely a rarity!
We had our first snow day of the year! We waited all weekend for the snow to come last night. We woke up to white! The prediction was 9 inches. We are guessing more like 6, but we’ll take it. It continued snowing most of the day but the kids got out and played in the yard before coming in for hot chocolate and some electronics time.
Then we convinced almost everyone to join us for sledding.
First snow day of the year!
I did a double take when I walked by Alex’s room today and saw Pepper on the bed with him. He rarely keeps his door open and even more rarely lets her on the bed.
Tonight Alex and I had some cookie dough and watched a super hero movie after everyone else was in bed.
Alex is back into programming and has been spending a lot watching videos to teach himself.
Alex went up to the library and Cumberland Farms to see if any of his friends were around. They weren’t but he came home with a new friend, “Jeff.” He and “Jeff” hung out until Jeff was all gone.
Wade decided to teach Alex how to grill burgers tonight.
Alex decided to put his new waffle iron to use and made everyone breakfast.
My kids have been so excited for New Year’s. We started the day at church, played some games, and then got ready for dinner. The kids love our annual snack dinner. They love the sparkling drink we cheer with. This year we got to celebrate with Granny and Pop too.
Sunday lineup
Today’s entertainment was candlepin bowling! We haven’t been in quite a while and thought it would be fun to introduce Granny and Pop. Ben once again managed to beat most of us.
Candlepin bowling
Alex got some new computer components for Christmas and couldn’t wait to get them installed.
Granny and Pop are here and the kids couldn’t wait to open presents!
Granny and Pop arrived today! We had some lunch, played some games, and then had our last round of Christmas.
My favorite part of the day was when the littles decided to sled down the stairs. Ben instigated the entire thing and went first. I attempted to take a video but was so caught up in watching him that I videoed the wall and not his slide. Only after his successful slide was Kaitlyn willing to go. Then Ben wanted to go again so I could get him on video. On this attempt, he leaned forward and tipped the basket halfway down and that ended the sliding for the day.
Over the break, Fortnite has become an almost nightly event for most of the family. The big boys always play. Wade sometimes joins. Ben has played a handful of times and jumps at any chance. Kaitlyn has developed an interest and now she joins in too. Sadly we have one less device than we do people wanting to play.
Wade decided today was the day to fix Pac-Man. He recruited Alex to help him move it downstairs, fixed it, and then got his help to move the working game back upstairs.
Christmas!
This is the first year that I woke up before everyone else on Christmas morning. If I hadn’t left our bedroom to see if anyone was awake (and waiting in their room as requested), then KitKat wouldn’t have gotten up and started meowing, and everyone would have slept later. Instead, Ben and Kaitlyn were woken up so then everyone was up. Then we all went downstairs to see what Santa had brought.
Then we had our traditional Christmas breakfast, got dressed, and took a few family pictures. Then we moved on to opening presents. The kids are always fun to watch. Teague and Alex had very sad want lists this year so Gram gave them mostly money, but delivered it in a creative way. She put cash in balloons but the boys had to find the balloons with their names on them and then pop them before they could count their money. It was a wonderful day and we ended it with naps for the adults while the kids were entertained with all their new things.
Cookies for Santa.
Today is one of my favorite days of the Christmas holiday. We had a leisurely day of reading, games, baking, an evening church service, and then setting out cookies for Santa.
The only hard part of basket presents today was waiting till everyone was awake. There is a large gap between Ben/Kaitlyn’s awake time and Alex’s.
Alex has his own routine. He joins us for meals. He sometimes plays video games with his brothers. But mostly he disappears in his room till his siblings are asleep. Then he comes downstairs and wants to hang out with Wade and I. Sometimes that sounds good and we are feeling social. Sometimes we are ready for some alone time ourselves.
Tonight Wade was feeling social and they played cards and then ended up wrestling (which they haven’t done in 10 years…). They were so loud that Ben got out of bed to join in the fun. I was laughing hysterically from my chair.
Basket presents are providing a great opportunity to get most everybody in a picture together.
Alex wanted to learn to play piano. He started lessons in September and today was his first recital for all of us. We loved that Gram was here to see it too. His teacher played all of the songs with him and her husband had made a plate full of wonderful treats.